The other day… UGH! Writer’s block!
We have all been there, the client or boss needs a document by the end of the day and you can’t even complete a full sentence. Pressures are swelling and you feel stuck. The blinking curser or ink spot from your pen resting on the paper are staring back at you with remorse. What to write about? Where to begin?
After I graduated college and before I found my first career opportunity, I made a regular habit of watching The Today Show with Hoda Kotb and Kathy Lee. One day, Hoda was thumbing through a newspaper (which she usually does to generate timely conversations with Kathy) and exclaimed something along the lines of “oh my gosh, do you see these Post-it notes (appropriately marking the page she was trying to find)? The people at 3M noticed I was always losing my page when I was talking about a story.” ( “ahhh,” sang the heavenly angles.)
“GENIUS!” I yelled, startling one of my cats.
The very smart Heather Whaling asked on her blog Wednesday whether social media begets mainstream coverage. Now, for me, that gets my attention, because a) it’s totally up the alley of my passion within the PR business (namely, the integration of traditional PR and social media PR; and b) it’s a question that I think we are going to start asking ourselves a lot more in the coming months.
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Spin.
Flack.
Bribe.
Pester.
Hover.
All words people seem to tack on to this career choice we have made called Public Relations. And I’m sick of it!
I had the recent pleasure of meeting one of Connecticut’s finest journalists. I’ll leave her name out here because it serves no purpose. But trust me she is a legend in this State.
[Editor’s Note: My colleague, Kate Ottavio, apparently doesn’t do these things. . . I do. You can find her post on the topic here.]
Spin — Heck yes, but spin it as ‘framing.’
Flack — It’s why I’m here. The conjugation of the verb form is easy – I flack, you flack, he flacks…the noun form — I am a flack.
Bribe — Well, not really — I have been known to offer things for free (food, samples, “review” copies . . .).
Pester — Seriously? It’s half my job.
Hover — Like I’ve got a jet-pack.
This week I had the pleasure of chatting with Arik Hanson. Bringing brand loyalty to a new level, Arik is willing to drive 10 miles out of his way just for some Caribou Coffee. I guess it tastes so good once it hits your lips. Arik’s free time is spent with, wife (Angela) and kids (Matthew and Amy), play ing golf and riff on the guitar (emphasis on riff). His musicial taste ranges from Green Day to Johnny Cash to Tesla. Top 3 current movies include, The Hangover (best comedy in last 5 years); Madagascar 2 (thanks to my son, Wag the Dog (one of my all-time faves and also a great movie from a PR perspective); The Dark Knight (just a tremendous movie). Professionally Arik, is principal of ACH Communications,and also long-time PRSA member, serving on the Minnesota PRSA board for the past three years and is a frequent speaker at local colleges and universities. His blog is a must-read within in the PR/Social Media industry. Especially for a newbie to social media, like myself, his blog sheds light on the industry and introduces readers to other influential people. And so I give you Arik Hanson…
[Editor’s Note: The below post is Part 2 of Christina’s interview with PR Mama Stephanie Smirnov. Part 1 ran on the PRBreakfastClub.com Blog on Monday.]
I remember a time back in the ’90s when tech networking events were filled with geeks and nerds, and very few women. I was a member of the Venice Interactive Community (VIC) which had monthly meetings at an old Victorian house on Main Street in Santa Monica. As a single woman, those tech events were great as there was always a bevy of single, smart men. So, they were a little pale and many wore glasses but they could fix my computer at a moment’s notice.
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That whole, “Hey journalist, buy into this idea NOW! You gotta jump on this now, because I’m going to go after the next living soul I can find who will listen to my spin!” Or my personal favorite: “You owe me big for this hit.”
Every business has an ecosystem and PR has always evolved around media. In India, PR is at a crossroads. I would say that it is little indecisive at the moment—whether to ape western markets and jump directly onto the social media bandwagon, or still come to terms with the ever-expanding traditional media landscape of the country.